Local author skates into debut novel

Tell me about the real-life skateboarders who helped you with the story?

I have two former students, Brendon Anderson and Matt Weiss, who were my skateboard consultants. I would write a skateboarding scene and hand it off to them. They would read it, mark it up with a red pen and then we would meet for coffee or tacos. They helped me get the words right. It was total role reversal — they were the teachers and I was the student.

Josh’s dilemma comes when he witnesses another skater commit a crime. What drew you to this storyline?

There is a code of silence among kids. I call it the teenage mafia and the mantra is nobody likes a rat. In other words, when something bad goes down, you keep your mouth shut. I picked this scenario because it is a very real situation for kids. In “Vertical,” Josh knows what he should do. The question is, does he have the courage to do it? Ultimately, that’s what this story is about — building up courage to do something that scares the heck out of you, whether it be dropping in on an enormous vert ramp or standing up to a terrible bully who is terrorizing your town.

The town in the book, Green Valley, is fictional, but it’s based on a town very much like Encinitas and Leucadia. Josh and his pals go to the skate park, cruise around town on their skateboards, go to taco shops for burritos. The only thing that Encinitas and Leucadia have that Green Valley doesn’t is the beach.

You’ve been a teacher for almost 20 years. How has student interest in reading changed over that time?

Students are a lot more interested in reading when they get to choose what they read. This was true 20 years ago and it’s still true today. My collegues and I try to dedicate a portion of our class time to Silent Sustained Reading (SSR). During SSR, students are required to read a book of their choice. This works out great because you have kids reading what they want to read. Then the rest of the class period is dedicated to reading the classics. I feel like kids are a lot more open to tackling a classic if you allow them to have some say in what else they get to read.

You’re the drummer in a band called Super Nacho. When can we expect to hear the companion album for “Vertical”?

Ha! Two totally separate artistic endeavors! But I will say that I came to writing through music. My husband and I have been playing in a band together for over 10 years. When we started writing original songs, nobody in the band wanted to write the lyrics, so I took on that job. Eventually, I figured out that I really liked playing with words and that I needed to beef up my skills. About five years ago, I took a great creative writing course at Palomar College and one of our assignments was a short story. I had to think about voice and characters and meaningful dialogue — totally fun stuff! I’ve been writing ever since.